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Bautista starts at DH amid extreme heat

Bautista starts at DH amid extreme heat

6/15/13: Jose Bautista makes a nice running catch on a fly ball hit by A.J. Pierzynski in the bottom of the second

By Gregor Chisholm
/
MLB.com |

ARLINGTON -- Jose Bautista started at designated hitter Sunday afternoon after being forced to leave a game the previous day because of leg cramps.

Bautista left Toronto's 6-1 victory over the Rangers in the eighth inning because of the discomfort. The minor injury was believed to be tied to the extreme heat conditions here at Rangers Ballpark, where the game-time temperature Sunday was 95 degrees.

The 32-year-old Bautista was not in danger of missing his club's series finale against Texas, but Blue Jays manager John Gibbons decided to give him a day off from the field.

That moved prompted Edwin Encarnacion to shift from first base to third, where he recently appeared in five games during Interleague Play. The move also allowed the club to find a spot in the lineup for the hot-hitting Adam Lind.

The club's regular DH started at first and singled in the first inning, which only increased his recent production. Lind has now recorded at least one hit in 17 of the past 19 games he has started.